U.S Code last checked for updates: Nov 24, 2024
§ 1439.
Naturalization through service in the armed forces
(a)
Requirements
(b)
Exceptions
A person filing an application under subsection (a) of this section shall comply in all other respects with the requirements of this subchapter, except that—
(1)
no residence within a State or district of the Service in the United States shall be required;
(2)
notwithstanding section 1429 of this title insofar as it relates to deportability, such applicant may be naturalized immediately if the applicant be then actually in the Armed Forces of the United States, and if prior to the filing of the application, the applicant shall have appeared before and been examined by a representative of the Service;
(3)
the applicant shall furnish to the Secretary of Homeland Security, prior to any hearing upon his application, a certified statement from the proper executive department for each period of his service upon which he relies for the benefits of this section, clearly showing that such service was honorable and that no discharges from service, including periods of service not relied upon by him for the benefits of this section, were other than honorable (the certificate or certificates herein provided for shall be conclusive evidence of such service and discharge); and
(4)
notwithstanding any other provision of law, no fee shall be charged or collected from the applicant for filing the application, or for the issuance of a certificate of naturalization upon being granted citizenship, and no clerk of any State court shall charge or collect any fee for such services unless the laws of the State require such charge to be made, in which case nothing more than the portion of the fee required to be paid to the State shall be charged or collected.
(c)
Periods when not in service
(d)
Residence requirements
(e)
Moral character
(f)
Revocation
(June 27, 1952, ch. 477, title III, ch. 2, § 328, 66 Stat. 249; Pub. L. 90–633, § 5, Oct. 24, 1968, 82 Stat. 1344; Pub. L. 97–116, § 15(e), Dec. 29, 1981, 95 Stat. 1619; Pub. L. 101–649, title IV, § 407(b)(4), (c)(10), (d)(8), Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 5040–5042; Pub. L. 102–232, title III, § 305(c), Dec. 12, 1991, 105 Stat. 1750; Pub. L. 108–136, div. A, title XVII, § 1701(a), (b)(1), (c)(1)(A), (f), Nov. 24, 2003, 117 Stat. 1691, 1692; Pub. L. 110–382, § 3(a), Oct. 9, 2008, 122 Stat. 4088.)
cite as: 8 USC 1439